Too Close | Rosalie Hale

Chapter 23

"She's beautiful," Lex breathed out as she gazed down upon the baby that was in Rosalie's arms, her arm wrapped loosely around Rosalie's waist. Renesmee had delicate porcelain features and warm brown eyes that reminded Lex of Bella's. Lex could hear the baby's heartbeat fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird— too fast to be human, but too alive to be a vampire. It had been a relief to realize that she did not have any desire to drink Renesmee's blood. The baby smelled too much like a vampire to draw out the burning sensation in the back of her throat the way that Bella's blood always had.

"She's a miracle," Rosalie replied as she leaned her head against Lex's shoulder. If she could have teared up, she would have. Rosalie had never felt so happy in her entire life— a baby was everything that she had ever wanted, and then Renesmee came along. Sure, she wasn't Rosalie's baby, but she was still a Cullen, and that was closer than Rosalie ever thought that she would get to motherhood.

The disgusting smell of wet dog hit Lex's nose, and she whipped her head around to see where it had come from. Jacob walked into the room, an anger burning in his eyes. Rosalie remained oblivious, she was too enamored with the new baby to pay attention to her surroundings, until Lex spoke.

"Don't you fucking dare," Lex seethed. "If you so much as even think about harming this baby, I will dismember you and feed the pieces to your family. You are not going to hurt her."

Rosalie and Lex watched Jacob cautiously. His pupils dilated as her words pierced through his mind. He shook his head as if he were clearing a fog that had settled over his mind. He was not going to hurt her. What had he been doing? All he could think of were Lex's words. His eyes met Renesmee's and suddenly he knew why he was there.

Lex watched as he collapsed to his knees, his eyes glued to the baby.

"What are you doing?" Lex asked him. When he didn't respond, she turned to Rosalie and repeated the question. "What is he doing?"

Rosalie's lip curled in disgust. "He's imprinting on the baby."

"Jesus," Lex cringed, recalling what she had learned about imprinting. "Make him stop. I don't like it."

"I think it's too late," Rosalie replied, her eyebrows raised in disbelief at the situation. "But you're the one with the mind-control thing, if anyone could've made him stop, it would've been you."

"I hate when you call it mind-control," Lex pouted. "It makes it sound so much worse than it actually is— I just nicely suggest that people do exactly what I tell them to, and then they suddenly want to do it."

"Love, now is really not the time for this argument," Rosalie deadpanned.

"Alice! Jasper!" They heard Edward call out. That couldn't be good.

"Go," Rosalie said, cradling the infant closer to her body. "Help them."

"Are you sure you'll be alright here on your own?" Lex asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," Rosalie insisted. "Go help the others."

Lex nodded, and rushed out of the house to see the wolf pack approaching from the woods.

"We're outnumbered," Jasper said.

"By a lot," Alice added.

Lex wanted to do something— she had controlled the wolves once before, maybe she could do it again. It was doubtful though. Carlisle was pretty sure that the only reason that she had been able to control the entire pack at once was because she had ordered the alpha. What were the chances of her getting that close to him again? The snarling that sounded out around her made her think that it was probably unlikely.

"I won't let them hurt my family," Edward said forcefully.

That's when the wolves attacked. They came running out of the forest, growling and baring their teeth. Lex grunted as she was knocked to the ground, her muscles strained as she struggled to keep the gnashing teeth from getting close enough to rip her head off.

Lex let out a relieved gasp as the wolf was suddenly knocked off of her— Carlisle and Esme were there. Springing to her feet, she prepared to fight.

She swiftly dodged a wolf that flew towards her, as she kicked another one in the face. The wolf was knocked away from the impact, and the other one turned back to attack again. She swung her fist, punching it in the face as hard as she could manage. It yelped at the impact, but before Lex could manage to cause any further damage, she was knocked to the ground again. She wrestled with the wolf, both of them rolling over each other as they fought to gain control. Lex grabbed the first limb she could reach and yanked as hard as she could, hoping to catch the wolf off guard— it was a trick she had learned from her days in the newborn army. The wolf yelped as its front leg snapped, and it tried to retreat, but she kept pulling. She could feel the joints coming apart, popping out of place.

Just as soon as she had gained the upper hand, she lost it— there were just too many of them. She managed to stand up, but the wolves began to back her into a corner with the rest of her coven. It wasn't looking hopeful for them.

"Stop!" A figure came flying over the railing of the balcony, landing in between the vampires and the wolves. It was Jacob. Man, she had never been so glad to see him. "It's over. If you kill her, you kill me."

Jacob phased as the wolves continued to attack. He stalked towards his former pack, growling and barking the entire time.

"Jacob imprinted," Edward announced. "They can't hurt her. Whoever a wolf imprints on can't be harmed. It's their most absolute law."

Reluctantly, the wolves began to retreat. Lex let out a relieved breath, as the sounds of the wolves faded into the night.

It was over.

A/N:

Hey everyone! Sorry that I couldn't update on Saturday :( I was super busy with Thanksgiving stuff and homework (it was the first year that we've been home for Thanksgiving, so I had to help cook/clean and stuff). Breaking Dawn Part 1 is over, and we're finally moving on to Breaking Dawn Part 2!!!! 

How do you guys like the new cover?? I'm still pretty new to making covers, so I would really love to hear what you guys think! Also if any of you guys are into cover-making, I'd love to hear any advice that you have! If you guys prefer the old cover, I can change it back, but I was just feeling like it was time for something new :) 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!!! Thank you so much for reading, I appreciate it so so so much!!!